Year of release: 2021
Label: Medieval Prophecy Records
Rating: 7,5 / 10
More anonimous Krywian bands is what we need! Meet NIAISNY - a new formation with no line-up, photos and even lyrics on the sleeve. Minimalism triumphs: all there is is a drawing of a tree over the river nd the logos of the group and the publisher. There is no catalog number either. Only 37 minutes of music remain. The publisher, by the way, is unusual for local scene: the Belgian Medieval Prophecy. This label also publishes the current releases of MOENEN OF XEZBETH, and I suspect that one of the band members owns the label. The label is small but very successful. For example, the cassette in question is already sold out, although it came out only 3 months ago.
NIAISNY are engaged in creativity that is not quite usual for Belarus. I accidentally found out that it was planned to play something in the spirit of BHH, but along the way, as usual, something went wrong. If “Zastyły miesiac” resembles anything from BBH, then only “Nagelreid”. Firstly, here the songs are also merged into a single big track (although this is not essential). Secondly, the style of compositions at certain moments is close to the works of Svyagir. Parallels with WALKNUT can also be drawn.
In general, “Zastyły miesiac” is a rather harsh and intense (but measured) atmospheric metal with a purely Eastern European sound. Even without Belarusian language, it is hard to imagine that it was played by some Dutch or Scandinavian. The specificity is recognized unmistakably - even if not purely Krywian, but of our, relatively speaking, latitudes. NIAISNY came from the same endless wilderness that spawned the aforementioned WALKNUT, as well as bands like KRAHNHOLM, YGG and even HATE FOREST. These musicians have a wonderful sense of balance, helping them to maneuver between extremes, and it is this feeling that ultimately separates good atmospheric metal from fake. NIAISNY often play melodiously, sometimes even mournfully, but all the time they keep the gloomy and cold character of the music, while not using the evil Scandinavian tremolo, which in 11 cases out of 10 fuck up the inviolable transcendence, turning it into a mundane jerk off. Moreover, the band is mostly playing riffs, not trying to fool their few listeners with monotonous scratch and crazy blast beats. It has no cravings for 20-minute hypnosis sessions. Conventional tracks take 3-5 minutes and really differ from each other, but at the same time they are similar, like members of the same family. Most of the recording is really great in all respects, but in the end the music fizzles out a little and the last minutes sound somehow doomed in a bad sense.
The recording sound corresponds to the demo status. Apparently, the tracks have undergone basic mixing and basic processing, with the main goal being to make them dirtier. The vocals are poorly understood due to the echo effect, but they sound clear, but the guitars at the top, I suspect, were deliberately squeezed. However, the overall picture, albeit oddly viscous, works well to create atmosphere and depth of sound. What, in fact, the group sought. The physical edition on cassette, as mentioned above, is extremely minimalistic. The video won't upload for some reason, so just look at the картинку - it has everything.
You can get the cassette from online sellers (not too expensive yet). Or try to contact vlsrcr @ gmail. com